By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's government has ordered children belonging to families of one of the country's largest house church movements to study the Koran and Shi’a Islam teachings or face expulsion from school, a church official confirmed to BosNewsLife Thursday, September 7. The Church of Iran movement is also concerned about four jailed members saying one of them "was deported to a feared secret police facility" in the southern city of Shiraz.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian judge who sentenced a well-known pastor and three devoted Christians to long prison terms is practically demanding that they no longer recognize Jesus as Lord, ahead of an upcoming appeal hearing, a well-informed church official told BosNewsLife Sunday, September 3.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian judge known for his harsh sentences will supervise the appeal hearing launched by a well-known pastor and three other Iranian Christians against their long prison sentences for what authorities consider dangerous Christian activities, BosNewsLife learned Friday, September 1.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian pastor who was nearly executed for abandoning Islam and three other believers have received 10 years imprisonment each for “acting against national security” as part of a government crackdown on Christian converts in Iran, their supporters told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Christian women who refuse to embrace Islam are facing abductions and attacks in Egypt, despite the government vowing to boost security and protect the country's Christian minority. More than a month after she went missing, Christians still search for 22-year-old Suzan Ashraf Rawy who disappeared last month while walking to the church where she works in Egypt.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Iran have appealed for prayers after missionaries, pastors and other devoted Christians received long prison terms and faced lashes as part of a government effort to halt the spread of Christianity in the Islamic nation, trial observers and activists told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos
BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- A girl kidnapped in Iraq three years ago by Islamic State group militants reunited with her Christian parents, friends, and activists involved in finding her confirmed to BosNewsLife.

By Linda Bordoni
CAIRO/VATICAN CITY (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Francis has expressed his solidarity with Egypt's Coptic Christians following an attack on a bus carrying Coptic pilgrims to a remote desert monastery in Egypt.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- The militant Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus loaded with Coptic Christians near the southern city of Minya, which killed at least 29 people, including children.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians urged prayers for Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz and fellow believer Amin Nader Afshar who were said to have been summoned to a court hearing on Sunday, May 21, more than two years after they were detained during a Christian celebration at the pastor's home.